Trip Of A Lifetime, Part 1: I Grieve With Thee
by V'Kotik
Summary: After the events of Terra Prime the First Couple of starship NX-01 "Enterprise" starts the test flight through uncharted territory called "interspecies relationship"
1. Aftermath

**Trip Of A Lifetime**

Authors Notes:

_I owe a big Thank You to Linda, who edited the original version of this story and another one goes to WarpGirl, who challenged my creativity and gently tore me to pieces for any failed attempt at improving. Thank you very much ladies :-)_

_Update (June 2010) : Re-Upload with minor cosmetic changes_

**1. Aftermath**

Having lost all sense of space and time, the two grieving parents of baby Elizabeth sat side by side, their hands desperately clasped one in another. The little baby, the first ever Vulcan/human hybrid, did only live for a short 6 months, a result of Paxton's evil plans to prove an alleged incompatibility between Vulcan and human genomes. What Doctor Phlox had identified as a mistake of Paxton's medics was in reality a deliberately engineered defect to make sure the baby would never survive infancy.

If only anyone could see the two people who had their DNA profiles stolen from _Enterprise's _sickbay to create the little child, Paxton's so-called message would crumble into the bigotry it so truly was. Even without the visual manifestation of just how compatible that human engineer and the Vulcan science officer really were, Paxton's plans did never work out. Even most Terra-Prime members turned their backs on Paxton's mad ideas, when they learned about his actions.

An innocent baby like Elizabeth stirred parental passion in the vast majority of human kind and when the news surfaced that the child died several hours after it had been freed, the tide turned completely. Spontaneous mass protests against Terra Prime supplanted the hate rallies of the days before. Although many of the protesters were still anxious about the presence of aliens and had still vivid memories of the attack of the Xindi prototype, no human in his right mind could condone the creation of a baby for the sole purpose to die after a few months.

The sheer shame to be of the same race as the devil, who committed this heinous crime against the innocent infant and her parents, drove millions out on the street and many of the protesters rightly remembered that the child's mother, an alien, had stood up against her own people to help Earth in its fight against the Xindi. It was she, who commanded Enterprise, when the pivotal Sphere 41 was destroyed, the final move that turned the Xindi from enemies to allies.

Terra Prime activity almost dried up completely. Many of the less influential members just went on with their lives, ashamed to once having believed in Paxton's xenophobic ideas. United Earth Government released a public appeal for Terra Prime members to turn themselves over to the authorities and help to dissolve the organization in exchange for being paroled and many followed this path.

Commanders Charles Tucker III and T'Pol of Vulcan were oblivious to what happened on Earth - just mere hours ago their child's lungs had stopped working because of the deliberately engineered genetic defect. T'Pol had been almost overwhelmed by the pain and agony of a severed maternal bond and she had left sickbay for her quarters. Although Captain Archer had tried to console his friend, Trip was still crying hard about the loss. Instead of listening to Archers stilted efforts of expressing commiseration, Trip had gone to see the only person, who was able to understand his pain – T'Pol.

As they sat side by side, Trip took comfort from the petite Vulcan's hand that had searched his just moments ago. T'Pol remembered their time in the Expanse, just after Trip had lost his sister Elisabeth. He did not sleep for days in fear of the hideous nightmares that came to him; he neglected his own health in the attempt to work himself to shreds. She remembered how Doctor Phlox had talked her into administering Vulcan neuropressure to the human engineer and how surprisingly effective that had been. She was still trying to understand, how it came to the point that she, the alien among humans, was the one who helped Trip overcome his grief, to finally write the letter to Crewman Taylor's parents and to finally realize that Lizzy had not been just one of 7 million faceless victims, but a special person, who deserved special memories.

Her mind raced through the last years. Much had happened between her first encounter with Trip in Archer's ready room and the moment she impulsively kissed him to get him back on _Enterprise, _after the Orion girls had left the ship. Especially the last months had taken its toll. It had been an endless string of events, which led to them misunderstanding and hurting each other. She remembered her meditation session of the night before they learned about Elizabeth, when her father V'Nur's image had appeared in her white space.

"_Father?"_

"_My child,__ you appear to be in need of counsel. Do I correctly believe your thoughts are with the human Charles Tucker?"_

"_You are correct father. I have a great deal of questions and no answers."_

"_What are your questions, child?"_

"_My logic fails to explain his actions and mine. I do not know if you can answer them. You died before I met him for the first time. "_

"_T'Pol, my image is with you as the voice who expresses those thoughts that you suppress and disregard. You have all the answers to your questions; you merely fail or refuse to express and accept them." _

"_I do not understand."_

"_You do not understand why Charles acts the way he does?"_

"_Yes. When I decided to marry Koss, he stayed for the ceremony, yet left immediately afterward and avoided me once I returned to the ship."_

"_Look into your mind. You have the answer." V'Nur urged her sternly._

"_He stayed to show his support. Humans often find symbolic gestures important. By staying he showed, that he does not condemn me for what I had done to him."_

"_Proceed__ child. You have the answers. What is his nature? Why did he leave so rapidly after the ceremony? Answer your own questions," ordered the image of her father._

"_He did harbor a deep affection for me. I aggrieved him by my decision to marry Koss. He left after demonstrating his support so he could deal with his suffering away from my view. He did not wish to distress me any further."_

"_Continue child that does not explain his avoidance. You know him well. Why did he react that way? Tell me why you reacted improperly."_

"_I do not understand, father?"_

"_Stop using this statement to hide. T'Pol, you have hidden too often behind feigned misunderstanding. Speak the truth and accept it. After Koss released you from marriage, you reacted improperly. Tell me why," V'Nur commanded with stern authority. _

"_My assessment, that his affection for me would subside after my marriage to Koss, was incorrect. Trip follows a historic pattern of behavior called 'gentleman manners'. This behavior prohibits showing affection for another persons mate. It is my belief that he also found it difficult to act neutrally towards me. He avoided me to avoid distress."_

"_You are still avoiding admittance of your own mistakes, child. Proceed."_

"_When I returned to the ship after mother's death, I questioned everything including the relationship with Trip. He offered to help me, but I refused his help. I distanced myself from him and aggrieved him again."_

"_Correct child. Now you also know that his decision to leave the ship was your fault as well. He does love you and you continue to aggrieve him. The human concept of love is not exclusive to them. Vulcans know it as well. We use different words, yet the concept is the same."_

"_I do know that."_

"_Then explain to me. Do you reciprocate that human's affection?"_

"_I do father."_

"_Tilek svi'khaf-spol t'vathu - tilek svi'sha'veh,_" _V'Nur lectured_

"_The spear in the others heart is the spear in your own," T'Pol translated. "I believe I do understand Surak's meaning. Whenever I experience pain, so does he. And only we together can resolve it."_

"_You are correct. Now live by the teachings of Surak, child." _

Returning from her memories, she noticed the trembling human hand that she felt in her hers. She sensed the pain and longing for comfort that the telepathic link - established by her touch – transmitted. Slowly she lifted their connected hands and directed his arm around her neck before resting her head on his uninjured shoulder. Immediately she could sense the comfort that this gave him. His breathing started to match her frequency and his sobs got quieter. Her logic had no answer however for the fact that the unusual embrace did also comfort her. It was not a typically Vulcan gesture, yet she drew as much strength and comfort from it as he did. After almost two hours, Trip broke the silence.

"T'Pol, I was thinking; when we give her official name… for the ceremony... I think she should also have a Vulcan name."

"That would be most appropriate. Do you have a proposal?"

"I was thinking about your mother's name. How does Elizabeth T'Les Tucker sound?"

"That is most agreeable. We shall follow your proposed course of action."

"Trip, I need to meditate now," she said softly and freed herself from the embrace. Trip sighed slightly and stood up to leave.

"There is no need to leave," T'Pol offered and indicated him back to the bunk. "You need to rest."

"Are you sure, I mean, in your bed?"

"Trip, I do not wish to be alone during the night," she admitted openly, much to his surprise. This was quite a change from the Vulcan woman he had to wind up for minutes to get her to admit, that she wanted him to come back to the ship.

"I also wouldn't want to be alone," he answered and tried to wiggle himself out of the uniform.

"I shall assist you."

Carefully she helped him to undo the sling and slowly stripped him out of the uniform. Surprised by the sudden change of her demeanor he just let it happen and gladly accepted her help to get him settled in.

"It is advisable to sleep on your back. I do not wish to inadvertently touch your injured arm, when I join you after my meditation."

Surprise and exhaustion prevented him from asking her about the sudden change, so he only nodded weakly and tried to smile, when she gently brushed two fingers over his cheek, before turning to her meditation.

_After almost three hours of meditation __T'Pol found herself back in Paxton's Prison holding baby Elizabeth. One of Paxton's guards pointed a phase pistol at her head. Suddenly the door was opened and a guard shoved in Trips beaten up body. Blood ran down his face. _

"_I should have known it," Paxton growled. "It is time for you to learn that Terra Prime does not make empty promises, Mr. Tucker."_

"_What have you done to him?" T'Pol asked sternly._

_Without answering Paxton tilted his head towards the guard and the tall black man pointed his phase pistol at Elizabeth. The beam cut through child and mother when he pulled the trigger._

"NO!" An earsplitting cry from the bunk tore T'Pol out of the shared nightmare. She shot up from her meditation pillow and raced over to the bed. Trip was sitting wide-eyed, shaking and sweating profoundly. His breathing was rapid and erratic.

"It was a dream," she said softly. "We're safe Trip." He looked at her, lost in the horror of the images that he had just seen.

She gently pushed him back down again and brushed a few sweat soaked strains of blond hair from his forehead.

"Yeah, safe and awake. Might as well head down to engineering," he grunted sadly. "I don't think I wanna sleep again."

"You need to rest and I shall make sure that you can," T'Pol said softly and let her Vulcan robe slip off her shoulders. Clad in gray stretch underwear she went to the bathroom and returned with a wet rag and gently started to wipe the cold sweat of his forehead and face.

Her gentle ministrations soon calmed him down again and she put the rag aside. Carefully avoiding any accidental contact with his injured arm, she climbed in under the sheets and slung her arm around his waist. Resting her head on his chest she carefully listened how his racing heartbeat calmed back to a normal frequency.

Ten minutes later she noticed how his breathing again subconsciously matched her frequency and soon after he fell back to sleep, protected by her embrace.


	2. Ulterior Motives

**2. Ulterior Motives**

_Update (June 2010) : Re-Upload with minor cosmetic changes_

"Minister, is this channel safe?"

"Yes, V'Las, it is one of the secret channels that Solkar established after first contact. Not even Soval knows about their existence."

"We have to react. The humans are posing a constant danger. Our plans have been thwarted too often by them. We must eliminate Archer."

"No wonder that you were removed from the High Command, V'Las. Your judgment is incorrect again. It is not Archer, whom we need to eliminate, it are Tucker and T'Pol. Twice we tried to open war with Andoria and twice the human has obstructed us. He has too much insight into our culture. They together could easily uncover us. You should have had removed T'Pol earlier from their ship. She has become a danger to our plans. If information about the child or their relationship reaches Vulcan, they might elicit unfavorable voices of support."

"We tried repeatedly to remove her. The humans always obstructed our attempts," V'Las retorted defensively.

"Do not concern yourself. You have failed often enough, V'Las. I will resolve the matter myself," the Minister said coolly and cut off the transmission.

X X X

Koss sat on his meditation pillow in his guest quarters that had been provided by the Vulcan embassy on Earth. The latest news had disturbed him. T'Pol, HIS T'Pol, was the mother of a Vulcan/human child, the father was a human engineer. His meditative mind was working hard to collect his thoughts.

_It was no coincidence that she had taken the human to her mother's house on Vulcan. If I had not appeared the same day, she might have decided to choose the human as her mate. I must not let that happen, I need to claim her as my mate again. _

_Why does father not explain his order to release her from our marriage? I had finally succeeded in marrying her and he ordered me to release her again. This is illogical. And why does he now tell me that he will help me to reclaim her? It appears, Father is the only person who can reconnect me with T'Pol, I need to obey his wishes, but his course of action is not entirely logical._

An incoming transmission ended his meditation prematurely.

"Koss, meet me in my office."

"Yes father"

X X X

A sweet scent accompanied Trip as he woke up. The feeling of a pointy ear on his chest brought realization that he had spent the night with the woman he loved so dearly. After his nightmare last night, she had cradled him and he had fallen into a very resting and uninterrupted sleep. She had theorized during her meditation, that close contact to him might be beneficial to his rest. It was not only the science officer part of her mind, who was satisfied with the positive result of proving that theory. Noticing that she was already awake, Trip gently traced her jaw line.

"Morning, T'Pol"

"Good morning. Did you rest well?"

"Yeah, except for the damn dream it was the best night of sleep I had since before the Xindi mission. It's nice to wake up with you in my arms. Thank you for helping me, I wouldn't have made it without you."

"I find it a most agreeable experience as well," she admitted.

"I've sort of wanted to do that for a long time."

"As have I. It is unlikely however that it will be tolerable to Starfleet, if we were to make this a routine procedure," T'Pol said not quite as neutrally as usual.

A wave of deep disappointment and sadness washed over the still very immature bond, indicating that these were very strong feelings. She realized just **how** important it had been, prompting her to reassure him.

"It apparently helped you in your current dealings with recent events, so there is a sufficiently logical reason to warrant an exception for the immediate future."

"I'd like that." he said softly and gently kissed her forehead in gratitude.

"It would be wise to return to your quarters now to change your uniform. Please meet me in the mess hall within the hour. I shall be waiting for you," she instructed with a gentle kiss on his cheek, while disentangling herself.

Helping him to dress and fix his arm, she asked. "Will you require assistance with the change of attire?"

"No, it'll just take a little longer. Have to show up in sickbay, to get rid of the sling." he said, before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"See you in the mess hall," he waved as he left.

X X X

Captain Archer paced the briefing room back and forth sunk in deep thought as his senior staff started to arrive. He would have to face his tormented friends not even 24 hours after their heart breaking loss. His experience told him that he was to expect a T'Pol who looked stoic as ever and Trip would probably look like death on two legs. His troubles in dealing with losses were the worlds worst kept secret.

He had not understood how the two of them had become so connected to this child. It wasn't created the usual way and they only saw her for a few days. But the scene he had witnessed in the shuttle pod, the worried care of the two parents, would have given no indication that this child was engineered in a lab. This only painfully added to the evilness of Paxton's plans. These plans could well wreck the life of a long time friend. And the saddest part of it was, that he was about to add to their pain by relaying bad news in a few minutes. Sometimes it was not a good time to be a Captain.

"Morning," Trip greeted after he entered the briefing room. After holding out the chair for his companion, the ships science officer, he walked around the table to take his own seat. The other officers looked a tad bemused at his old fashioned gentleman manners, but even more bemusement came from the fact, that the usually strictly Vulcan target of his attention did not even show a hint of protest against several blatant intrusions into a Vulcan's sacred personal space.

"I'm surprised, Commander. I expected you to look a lot worse. Not that I'm complaining, of course," Archer stated with a surprised expression.

"Well I got more sleep than expected. T'Pol has helped me a lot," Trip explained, hoping for the Captain to take the bait.

"That neuropressure stuff surely works miracles. We should take on a Vulcan therapist," Archer stated, obviously walking down the path that Trip wanted to lead him to.

"It has taken a considerable time to teach the necessary breathing techniques. It is fortunate that the Commander is already adept at these techniques, else it would have been of little effect," T'Pol lectured, picking up Trips intention.

"Well, whatever keeps our engineer on his feet, I'm glad you're helping him." the Captain closed.

"Actually I have bad news. I tried to buy you some time, but Starfleet and the Vulcan High Council seem to be hell bent on getting some answers. So they summoned you to a hearing at 1400. The only reasons to postpone it are medical reasons," Archer reported warily.

"You'd think they'd give us at least a day or two," Trip grunted.

"I believe it will be of little help to cite medical reasons. I think the earth expression is: It is as good a time as any to get it over with." T'Pol said in an uncharacteristically unsuppressed tone of resignation.

"Looks like your picking up some human habits is more than just a joke," Malcolm quipped wide-eyed.

"Joking aside," Archer interrupted, "Trip, are you sure, that you can go through with it?"

"Yeah, I'll ask T'Pol to show me some meditation stuff and I'll be good to go," Trip supplied with a sigh.

T'Pol, slightly surprised at Trip's sudden bout of responsibility, consented "That is a reasonable request. I shall assist the Commander."

Every officer in the room darted his eyes back and forth between the two Commanders. Both seemed completely out of character. No teasing from Trip, no arguments. If anybody needed proof of the magnitude of impact the recent events had on them, it was visible now.

After a moment of silence, Archer continued the briefing.

"Admiral Gardner and Nathan Samuels will conduct the debriefing on behalf of Starfleet and Vulcan will be represented by Minister V'Lon and Ambassador Soval."

Trip's face lost all colour and T'Pol's eyebrow went very far north.

"Shit! That's no coincidence." Trip exhaled, before he buried his face in his palms.

Shocked about Trips sudden outburst, Archer asked "Trip, T'Pol, what's wrong?"

Jumping to his feet, throwing the chair back in the process, Trip paced the room, desperately trying to restrain his fury. A massive wave of anger and fear washed over through the bond and T'Pol winced silently at the brutal onslaught of transmitted emotions.

"Trip, what the hell is wrong!" Archer pressed.

"V'Lon, **that's** wrong! That's the guy, who blackmailed T'Pol into that mockery of a marriage to his son. And he was also the guy who sent Sopek to collect her after P'Jem. I can't understand that they didn't throw him out, when V'Las got the boot." Trip sighed deeply, while picking up the chair and returned to his place. Before he buried his face back in his palms, he said to T'Pol. "Guess you hav'ta show me some pretty hefty meditatin' stuff, or I'll gonna kick that creep's ass right back ta Vulcan." His worsening drawl and the ripe choice of words was a telltale sign of his massive emotional turmoil.

"So you're telling me the same person, who tried to get you busted for P'Jem and taken off Enterprise and who later blackmailed you into a forced marriage to his own son, will now debrief you on this incident? With you being just short of breakdown, well Trip at least? I'll contact Starfleet immediately, I'm not going to have any of that," Archer told T'Pol and turned to leave towards the com.

"Captain!" T'Pol interjected. "That is a futile attempt. Minister V'Lon is part of a most conservative and isolationist faction in the High Council. His followers are most discomforted by the thought of a child conceived by a Vulcan and a human, so he is here for a reason. Nothing that Earth could do, would change that situation. Ambassador Soval does not share his views. He might be the only one to be of assistance to us."

"Trip's never going to get through that T'Pol, not without a major outburst," the captain countered in anger.

"Your assessment has merit. I foresee major difficulties for Commander Tucker to maintain his composure. I must include myself in that assessment as well. I shall do what I can to prepare us for the ordeal. It is my belief, that Minister V'Lon's motives are not honorable. It would be logical to assume, that he wishes to take advantage of the impact that Elizabeth's death had on our emotional condition. It would be the only logical explanation for the exceedingly short time between the event and the debriefing."

"You mean he wants one of you to break down?"

"That is my theory. I cannot however provide a theory, what the Minister's reasoning behind that is. Many on Vulcan believe that he is still influenced by the former administrator V'Las."

"Now that's a name I recognize. You two better get out of here and do what you can as long as there's still time. This is looking like a fight is coming our way." Archer sighed.

"Aye, Captain!" T'Pol and Trip answered in unison and left the room.

"Bloody Hell!" Malcolm uttered. "They're setting them up pretty badly. We must do something."

"There's nothing we can do but hope that they make it through somehow, but the Vulcans are not going to get away with this," Archer hissed while reaching for the com.

"Archer to Doctor Phlox."

"Doctor Phlox here, Captain. What can I do for you?"

"When we go down in the afternoon, please take whatever you need for the case of either one of the Commanders breaking down."

"If one or both are in danger of breaking down, we must not go in the first place," the Dr. warned.

"We have no choice, we have gotten information that the Vulcans try to break one or even both of them."

"This is a scandal," the Doctor gasped. "But if you think there is no other option, I will be prepared. Phlox out."

"Captain, we all want to come down with you. We will not let them walk into that without our support, if only morally," Malcolm stated firmly.

"I was counting on that." Archer nodded. "Dismissed."


	3. Flipping The Bird

**3. Flipping the Bird**

_Update (June 2010) : Re-Upload with minor cosmetic changes_

"_Wow, I always thought that meditation is dull, but this is something else," Trip wondered. He was sitting with T'Pol in their white space, cradling her gently._

"_We are immobile physically but our minds are active. You have been progressing well. I did not expect you to learn my breathing techniques rapidly enough to leave time for your first experience of meditation."_

"_Well, whatever helps down there... I wanna try this meditation stuff again, it's interesting."_

"_We shall repeat the experience, but we have to leave now."_

X X X_  
_

"Well, it's certainly interesting in there, but my legs don't really agree with it," Trip groaned as he got up from the unfamiliar position.

"It will take time to get used to the long periods of immobility. It will become less straining as you progress in training. Please go to change your uniform, we are expected to leave in 15 minutes."

X X X

"That's the first time I see you in a standard issue dress uniform, T'Pol," Archer wondered when Trip and T'Pol arrived at the airlock.

"I decided it is a more appropriate choice than my usual attire."

"Can't argue with that. Let's go everybody."

The entire bridge crew of _Enterprise_ accompanied by some of Trips engineers, who had insisted on going with their chief engineer, arrived at Starfleet's Headquarters with about 15 minutes to spare. As they arrived in the waiting area outside Briefing room 32, they met a very familiar blue face.

"Shran, what the hell are you doing here?" Archer enthused.

"There is time to explain that later, pink skin. I am here to warn you. V'Lon is a dangerous man and this whole hearing stinks worse than a Tellarite's droppings."

"We think that this V'Lon might be trying to break down Commander T'Pol or Commander Tucker, but we have no clue why."

"Whatever he plans, this is only the beginning. Some of our diplomats from the coalition talks are still here. I'm no longer a member of the Imperial Guard, but I have some good friends there, who still owe me. I will try to find out, what is going on."

"They threw you out, because you lost the Kumari?"

"As I said, I will explain that later, for now I must go to find out what the Vulcans are planning."

"Shran, why do you do all that?" Archer asked

"I may not show it too well, but I highly respect them both. I came here for the funeral, but when I heard about this hearing I knew that there's more we need to do for them. Can we meet on your ship in the evening?"

"Fine for me, does 1800 sound ok?"

"I will be there," Shran said and left.

"What are they doing?" Malcolm asked Hoshi when they saw Trip and T'Pol standing close to each other face to face with closed eyes.

"Looks like deep breathing or meditation to me. They've been practicing that all day since the morning briefing."

"They would really make a nice couple, don't you think? I bet that would give some of those Vulcans a bloody conniption." Malcolm asked in a soft voice.

"I never knew you were a romantic," Hoshi said with a big smile.

A moment later the big double doors opened and signaled the start of the proceedings. Briefing room 32 was one of the bigger rooms of that type, specifically equipped for larger audiences. Several staff members of Starfleet, some media representatives and some crew members of the newest, recently commissioned Vulcan cruiser T'Karah, including its commanding officer, Admiral V'Kar were already in the room. Big tables for the four dignitaries on an elevated platform made the whole arrangement look like a tribunal, rather than a briefing.

Nathan Samuels and Admiral Gardner were sitting on the left side, while Minister V'Lon, a broad shouldered tall man about the same age as Ambassador Soval and the Ambassador himself sat on the right side. V'Lon's face was stoic as every Vulcan face, but Soval's expression was not as neutral as usual. His furrowed brows were a clear giveaway that he found the proceedings less than agreeable.

When Trip and T'Pol entered the room to take their places at the front, they were approached by a most unexpected guest – Koss.

"It is agreeable to see you again, T'Pol," he greeted, ignoring Trips presence completely. T'Pol answered the greeting with a silent nod and waited for him to give way.

"What can I do to help you?" Koss continued.

"Well you may volunteer to get lost. I'm pretty sure you'll help her a lot with 'at." Trip spat angrily.

_Father was correct. The human has no emotional control. I do not believe that T'Pol wishes to associate herself with him, once she s__ees his volatile nature exposed; a most logical plan father. _

"Trip, do not let him provoke you," T'Pol said softly and brushed the back of his hand with two fingers to reassure him. "Koss, I would prefer if you stepped aside. I do not wish any help from you."

Taken aback, by the obvious determination of the Commanders not to be bullied, Koss complied immediately.

"Admiral, Minister, Ambassador, Mr. Samuels," the Captain spoke unasked. "Before we begin the proceedings, I want to express several concerns for the record. At first, I demand that Koss be removed to a more distant position from the Commanders T'Pol and Tucker. We have just observed him violate the Commanders personal space, putting her visibly at unease. Furthermore I want to officially object to the fact, that Minister V'Lon is part of the debriefing. I was informed, that he was directly involved in coercing Commander T'Pol into an involuntary marriage to his son, the aforementioned Koss. We doubt that he is impartial."

"Your objections have been noted, but since the marriage between Subcommander T'Pol and Koss has been dissolved, both objections are unseemly and irrelevant." V'Lon answered sternly.

"Well, guess we know who runs this show, then. And you might want to remember that her rank is Commander," the captain rebuffed V'Lon, "Admiral, did the Minister allow you to speak to us?" he asked sarcastically.

"You're out of line, Captain." Gardner growled, but his anger stemmed more from the fact that Archer had delivered a way too apt description of what was going on. "Lt. Reed, I can not remember having summoned you to the debriefing."

"Sir, I speak for the entire senior staff of Enterprise. It does not take a warp specialist to see, that this debriefing has the sole purpose of trampling all over our friends, the Commanders Tucker and T'Pol. We will not let that happen, without showing our support for them. These two have lost their child a mere 24 hours ago, they are still grieving. We are appalled that Starfleet allows this meeting to happen."

"Your infantile insinuations are irrelevant. Hiding behind grief for the absurd thing, you call their child, is only a deceptive attempt to deflect attention from the fact that Commander T'Pol consorts with a human in a despicable act of perversion."

"Minister, I can not condone that," Soval said in a stern voice. "It is unseemly to speak inappropriately about the deceased infant. I can not accept the way you speak about Commander T'Pol as well."

"You will not controvert me, Soval. You are showing unseemly emotional indulgence about this half-bred beast."

A sharp inhale from Trip signaled that V'Lons vilification was hitting its target squarely.

"I will not let that stand!" Malcolm shouted. "I will not stand by silently while you insult my friends and their child. Admiral, I am a loyal officer and it would never occur to me lightly to contradict a superior officer, but how can you let him say such things in the presence of Elisabeth's parents? Is Starfleet betraying its own officers now? Are you going to stand by idly, while he taunts our science officer? Where is your bloody honor?"

Malcolm looked at Trip, who was breathing heavily in an attempt to avoid an outburst at the gross taunting of both his mate and his child. T'Pol's nostrils were flaring as she equally suffered to take V'Lon's abuse without loosing her emotional control. Even Soval's face could not hide the shock about the gross misconduct by his superior.

"Lt. Reed, you will leave the room. You are excluded from the debriefing," Admiral Gardner retorted, with ill-concealed shame about the truth of Malcolms assessment.

As Malcolm turned to go, Hoshi wordlessly stood up and followed him. She would not leave him alone in his furious anger and his frightening concern for his two friends.

Before they left, Hoshi turned back to the podium. "You may exclude us, but I know the Commanders well enough. They will fight, as will we. In this moment, I'm ashamed to be a Starfleet officer." she stated defiantly. "Come on, Malcolm," she whispered and slung her arm around his waist to calm the trembling officer when they left the briefing room."

Turning towards T'Pol, V'Lon continued the grinding.

"Did you encounter the human, Paxton, personally?"

"Yes."

"Did he give an account of what this creature was? Was it a half-breed illicitly conceived by you and a human?"

"Don' give us that 'it' shit! Her name was Elizabeth, Elizabeth T'Les Tucker, and that means 'she' not 'it'," Trip interjected angrily.

"That is irrelevant, we do not indulge in emotional attachment," V'Lon dismissed.

"I'll give you irrelevant! Again, her name was Elizabeth, and you'll call her that, Minister. I don't give a damn, if Gardner throws me out, but I will not let you get away with that abuse of our daughter." Trip returned, settling into his breathing techniques to avoid the melt-down.

T'Pol could sense that the breathing techniques would fail very soon. V'Lon had broken most of the barriers she had tried to build during the day's training. Trip's control was on a downward slide and there was nothing to stop it.

"Commander, you should cool your temper," Samuels interjected; he could not idly stand by any longer. "I do believe however, that the child deserves the respect of being called by the name that her parents agreed upon. Minister, I do believe that you could pay that respect as well."

"Who are you to lecture me, human?" V'Lon retorted in a heightened voice.

"He is correct." Soval added coolly. "Respect of life is one of the main pillars of our culture. It is illogical to refer to the child Elizabeth by anything else but her given name."

"You have been amongst humans too long, Soval," V'Lon scolded.

Seeing that he ran into his first defeat right away, V'Lon went straight for what he perceived to be the weakest link. He set out to destroy Trip, who was short of breaking down.

"Commander Tucker. Did Paxton explain the conception of ... 'Elizabeth' to you?"

"Yeah, he had a damn spy on Enterprise, who stole our DNA profiles from sickbay. They used them to create a binary clone. She was not conceived the usual way," Trip answered with his composure intact, but only barely.

"So you concur, that offspring of both Vulcan and human heritage can only be conceived as an abhorrent result of genetic experiments?"

"Elizabeth was a living being. Her death was deliberately engineered into the combined genome. I won't take your abuse any longer," Trip answered with ill-restraint fury, fighting his tears as his beloved daughter was taunted again and again.

Obviously V'Lon was prepared and knew the parents' distress about the loss. V'Lon prepared the final blow, knowing that this would be too much for an emotional human.

"There is no evidence that life could have been sustained, it is illogical to care for an abomination that is not meant to exist."

Howling in agony, Trip succumbed to the tears and jumped from his chair and yelled out his sorrow of loosing his child and hearing her being abused.

"Ya fucking racist bigot! It's SHE, SHE! not IT, no THING! You're just a Vulcan version of that Paxton shithead! She was OUR child! Try to destroy me if it takes your fancy, that's what you came here for, isn't it! You'll never destroy her memory! You won't change a damn thing! One day there will be a child, conceived by a human and a Vulcan, who love each other! And you know what? There's not a damn thing you can do about it!"

Shaking from the brutal onslaught of emotions Trip stumbled towards the table in front of their seats, trying to get into a breathing technique. T'Pol's nostrils where flaring again from the brutal onslaught of pain that came through the bond adding to her own. She was reaching critical mass as well.

All guests, including Koss stood, shocked about the scene that unfolded before their eyes.

_Father, __THOSE were your real intentions. You used me for your purposes; I will not condone that any longer. I will never be reunited with T'Pol and you knew that. You shamed us all. _Koss' mind was in turmoil when he realized, what his father had dragged him into.

"You are perceptive human. Yes. I will destroy you. I will show that you are too inferior. We will not allow our race to be contaminated with illicit half-breeds conceived with barbarians," V'Lon added with a heightened voice and a hateful glance. Now even Soval could not prevent an outward expression of shock and disgust.

"That's it, now you're gonna have it!" Trip cried at the top of his lungs and launched toward the podium, ready to go for V'Lon's throat. The final round of abuse though was all he could take and he fell on his way towards V'Lon, collapsing unconscious onto the floor.

"Ashayam!" T'Pol cried out, racing to his side. Oblivious to her surroundings, she gently cradled Trip in an overtly intimate embrace. Holding him in her arms she looked up into V'Lon's eyes with ill-restrained rage and a tear running down her petite face. "_**Ponfo mirann**_**!**"

"Enough!" Koss interjected, while Phlox raced towards the two Commanders to help Trip. "Minister, you have shamed Vulcan and you have dishonored our family. Coercing T'Pol into a marriage was dishonorable at best, my own wish to claim T'Pol as my mate blinded my judgment. I have to accept the shame for my indulgence. I will not condone what you have done here. Twice our world has been saved from grave conflict with Andoria, by the man, whom you deliberately injured. I am ashamed to be of your blood. Never again shall I speak of you as my father."

Koss left the room without a further word.

"The debriefing is closed." Gardner announced, while Phlox attended to the unconscious chief engineer, who was still embraced by a trembling science officer.

Gardner couldn't get away from the place quickly enough. V'Lon left immediately with V'Kar in tow as well, while the reporters started fighting for the best view on the two fallen Commanders.

"Get the hell away from them," Archer growled in anger and the vultures scrambled for the door when Travis, Lt. Hess and the sturdy Lt. Rostov joined Archer in an aggressive stance, seemingly ready to start a brawl.

"We need to get him to sickbay, immediately," Phlox assessed with a worried expression. "We must not leave him down here. Starfleet is not the safest place at the moment."

Wordlessly T'Pol picked up Trip and carried him out of the door towards the Shuttlepod. Nobody dared to get in her way. Her eyes were moist with unshod tears – not a very frequent sight on a Vulcan. Her face was a grimace of pure rage about the coward attack on her mate. Travis ran off to prepare the Shuttlepod for the departure.

X X X

"Bloody Hell!" Malcolm shouted when Travis ran out into the hall followed by T'Pol, who carried the unconscious body of Trip.

Quickly Hoshi grabbed his sleeve, when he started to move towards his friends. "Don't Malcolm. She's short of exploding, better leave them alone. Phlox will do what he can."

"I hope Shran can tell us what this is all about. They don't deserve that." Malcolm sighed sadly and gladly accepted Hoshi's comforting embrace.


	4. Consequences

**4. Consequences**

_Update (June 2010) : Re-Upload with minor cosmetic changes_

Have you seen the latest news bulletins?" Travis asked, sitting with Hoshi and Malcolm in _Enterprise_'s mess hall, still shocked by the events of 2 hours ago.

"Yes. I can't believe they printed Trip's little diatribe without any censoring." Malcolm added with a hint of amazement.

"I cannot believe, what that V'Lon said to him," Hoshi added sadly.

"That is nothing, compared to the stuff he threw their way after you had left. It was absolutely disgusting," Travis explained and gave Hoshi and Malcolm a rundown of what happened.

"For once I'm happy that we still have T'Pol on board," Travis marveled. "Have you seen that deep breathing stuff he did? I'm damn sure that she taught him that. In the end she said something to him in Vulcan. It sounded pretty much like what you said to her before our first mission to Qro'nos."

"Ponfo mirann?" Hoshi asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah, and she called Trip something like 'Asham' or so."

"Ashayam?"

"Yeah exactly, what does that mean?"

"Well the first one means 'go to hell'. And Ashayam means … beloved," Hoshi added with a shy glance at Malcolm.

Malcolm and Travis looked at each other wide-eyed in stunned amazement.

"We should not let the Captain know that," Hoshi urged. "If Starfleet gets wind of them being more than just good friends, they'll separate them immediately and by the looks of things Starfleet isn't exactly on our side at the moment."

"You know, what really gets me? It's how Gardner and Samuels just sat there and didn't say a bloody thing. They idly watched how some Vulcan racist tears a grieving man to pieces and just didn't squat anything." Malcolm growled, "I really wanted to beat those two idiots into a bloody pulp."

"You're right Malcolm, something definitely smells fishy, and it isn't our food." Travis added.

X X X

Back in sickbay T'Pol sat beside the biobed and held Trip's hand. Regularly, she gently caressed his cheeks and mouth with two fingers, knowing how much the Commander cherished her touch.

Silently Captain Archer entered sickbay and addressed Phlox in a low voice.

"How is he?"

"He has suffered a very severe breakdown. In hindsight we should never have gone down there. He will awake within the next 2 hours, but he will definitely not go on duty tomorrow. Attacking a grieving father with such insults is not much different from just stabbing him with a knife. This breakdown was caused deliberately."

"We thought so ourselves, but why would he plan to do that?"

"I cannot be certain, but as Koss explained, Commander Tucker has been pivotal in averting war twice. Due to his friendship with Commander T'Pol, he also has a good insight into Vulcan culture. By showing him in a mentally unstable state, it would be very easy to have him expelled from Starfleet for medical reasons. I do not want to belittle your achievements Captain, but it is obvious that the Vulcans perceive Commander Tucker as a very influential man, seemingly more influential than you."

"Doctor Phlox's assessment has merit. Koss has revealed that the attack on Commander Tucker was deliberate and he Commander provoked the Minister into admitting publicly his intention to destroy him. Unfortunately the Minister also succeeded in breaking my emotional control." T'Pol explained, without taking her eyes away from Trip.

"What did you say to him, to both?" Archer asked.

"I addressed Trip as my friend," T'Pol lied to protect the ship's worst kept secret. "And the statement I directed at Minister V'Lon means 'go to hell' in English."

Archer's eyes switched to saucer mode and Doctor Phlox added "Well, we might as well expect a mission to Vulcan soon."

"That is correct. We will have to face punishment. We both attacked a Minister." T'Pol answered.

Stepping towards Trips biobed, Archer put his hand on T'Pol's shoulder. "We will not let that happen."

"Captain, your hand," she replied coolly, prompting Archer to end the uninvited touch, while T'Pol kept clasping Trips hand.

"I'll talk to Shran," the captain explained and left sickbay.

X X X

"So, what the hell is up with your departure from the Imperial Guard?" Archer asked after he had led Shran from the airlock to his Captain's mess. "I know they don't like it if you lose a ship, but I didn't expect them to throw you out."

"They didn't, I left. When I returned from the Aenar, they gave me a hero's welcome and wanted to make me a General."

"Well, that sounds good to me; hardly a reason to quit the job." Archer stated confused.

"I'm a man of space, Archer. I can't sit in an office all day. In 30 years maybe, but until then I want to get out there. I would rather be a helmsman for the Tellarites than wasting away behind a desk, shuffling paper all day."

"Now I understand. Maybe you can do better than helmsman for the Tellarites, but let's talk about that later. Did you find something about the Vulcans?"

"I did. I have been told that the Vulcans, especially V'Lon and Admiral V'Kar are not too happy about the relationship of your two officers."

"Well as far as I know they're good friends."

"I'm starting to wonder, where you have your eyes, pink skin. I only met them a couple of times and I can tell, they are more than that. Anyways, V'Lon and V'Kar have threatened that Vulcan will leave the Coalition if Starfleet condones their 'friendship'. They demand that the two are separated and that T'Pol be delivered back to Vulcan."

"So they basically have Starfleet over a barrel and Gardner tucks his tail in and does nothing," Archer concluded angrily.

"That's a very accurate description. The next thing will probably be that they're called to Vulcan."

"I can't believe it. Anyway, Shran, I'm sure they will be very grateful for what you've done for them."

"Well, that just means, they owe me," Shran laughed sarcastically.

"Listen," Archer offered. "I could talk to Admiral Gardner. I think Starfleet would be a better option than the Tellarites, even if Gardner didn't exactly show us from our best side today."

"You mean Starfleet would give me a ship?"

"Not right away probably. We don't have any new ships at the moment, but _Challenger _will be completed in six moths and they'd be crazy not to give her to you. Do you have a service record? You could be in a uniform again within a few days. It took us less than 24 hours to get T'Pol a commission."

"I could ask the Embassy tomorrow morning to request my file from the Imperial Guard. But for now, lets drink to the best of luck for the Commanders," Shran said and took a little flask of andorian ale out of his pocket.

X X X

Almost two hours after their return to sickbay, Trip drifted back to consciousness.

"T'Pol?" he whispered in a powerless voice, trying to get a fixed vision.

"I am here, Trip. You are safe." she hushed, covering his mouth with her finger.

"Ah, Commander," Phlox enthused, "Welcome back to reality. You will experience a headache. If it gets too bad, you will need this hypospray. Since Commander T'Pol has been by your side all the time, I don't think she'll leave you anytime soon, so Commander T'Pol, please administer this if Commander Tucker experiences a pronounced headache."

"Doctor," T'Pol started to object. She did not want the doctor to know too many details.

"Don't worry Commander; everything falls under the doctor-patient confidentiality. I will have to keep the commander in sick bay, if he will be unattended for the night."

"That will not be necessary," she answered coolly, while helping a very weak Trip to his feet.

X X X

"I'm sorry, T'Pol," Trip winced, as she gently laid him down to her bunk.

"For what do you apologize?"

"I lost to that asshole," he said with tears welling up again.

"No. You did well. His conduct was intolerable and most dishonorable. Even Koss distanced himself from him."

"He did what? But he was in on it, the whole time."

"Even a misled character like Koss could not condone that."

"Give me that hypospray please, darlin', my head's on fire."

After injecting the painkiller she gently pulled up the blanket and snuggled up to him again. "Rest now." she whispered and planted a gentle kiss on his lips before they fell asleep in each others arms.

X X X

"_You have fought with honor, human, but you are still an unworthy species," V'Lon said to Trip, who sat in the brig of a Vulcan cruiser. _

"_What have you done to her? Where's T'Pol?" Trip hissed with unrestrained anger._

"_Your concubine will be executed for the gross perversion she has indulged in."_

"_You won't, she's not my concubine, ya creep! What are ya so afraid of, eh?" Trip shouted back, shocked about the news._

"_Vulcans do not fear, human," V'Kar interjected. The burly Vulcan shoved T'Pol's battered figure into the room. She was bound and her face was littered with green bruises. Two gaping holes released little streams of blood, where her eyes had been torn out. _

"_T'Pol, darlin', what have they done to ya?" Trip cried out in horror._

"_She can not hear you human. Nor will she ever see you again." V'Lon explained coolly and picked up a Lirpa, which he handed to V'Kar._

"_NOOO!" trip screamed as the weapon tore into her torso._

X X X_  
_

"Trip, Trip! Awaken." T'Pol gently rocked him to yank him out of the fifth or sixth nightmare. She had stopped counting. There was obviously no way for him to find sleep.

"Don't make me sleep again, darlin'." Trip winced. "Another one and I'm gonna go insane."

"I concur. My presence has been helpful before, but I can not help you now. We must go to sickbay."

A weak nod indicated that he had come to the same conclusion. She helped him on his feet and the couple made their way to sickbay, where Phlox decided that it was best to sedate Trip until the most severe aftereffects of the emotional trauma would subside. As before, T'Pol did not leave his side and Phlox made no attempt to separate them.


	5. Ashayam, eh?

**5. Ashayam, eh?**

_Update (June 2010) : Re-Upload with minor cosmetic changes_

"We all witnessed, what happened yesterday. I'm afraid we will have to face some consequences," Archer opened the morning briefing. "But first things first. T'Pol, how are you and Trip?"

"Doctor Phlox has sedated the Commander. It appears that he has not had much rest last night. The same is true for me. Vulcans can function for several days without sleep, but my emotional control is still... unstable. I wish to ask for a day off-duty. I need to attend a task on the surface and spend the day in meditation. I believe Commander Tucker will need my assistance today, as well. It would not be wise to keep him sedated all the time."

"You're not going to flip off another Minister down there, are you?"

"I do not wish to indulge in unseemly actions, Captain. The purpose of my visit is strictly limited to preparations for the ceremony tomorrow."

"Ok, then you're granted a day off. We had a call from Minister T'Pau this morning. The High Council demands to see you... and Trip. We will have to haul you two to Vulcan within one week."

"That was a foreseeable development. We both acted unseemly towards a member of the High Council. We will have to answer for that. However unseemly Minister V'Lon acted himself…"

"Damn! Well, I suppose you have a plan to defend yourself?"

"Not at this moment. I will speak to Ambassador Soval and Commander Tucker. I will consult with both about a possible course of action. Trip... Commander Tucker often finds solutions that others do not consider."

"Well, I hope you find something. Dismissed Commander, see that you and Trip get back on your feet, ok?" Archer ordered, ignoring her slip-up.

"I will, Captain." she nodded and left the briefing.

"Sir, if I may ask," Malcolm interjected, "Why didn't the Admiral object? He was sitting on his butt, watching the Vulcan tear Trip to pieces. Do we let them have their way?"

"Well according to what Shran told me yesterday, the Vulcans had them by the throat. I'm afraid, there's really nothing we can do at the moment. Let's hope that T'Pol is right and Trip comes up with an idea." the Captain sighed.

X X X

"It is agreeable to see you, Commander T'Pol. I grieve with thee," Soval started.

"It is agreeable to see you, Ambassador."

"I am ashamed of Minister V'Lon's behavior. Unfortunately my position did not allow me to render more assistance. However, may I ask what caused your overt display of emotions?"

"The loss of Elizabeth was most taxing. We were aware that Minister V'Lon's motives were not honorable. We did not have sufficient time to prepare for that. It is our belief, that he willingly tried to take advantage of our situation to have us removed from Starfleet and more importantly, he attempts to separate us."

"You include Commander Tucker in that statement. You addressed him as Ashayam. Do I correctly assess that you and the Commander share a romantic relationship?"

"We are bond mates, Ambassador," she stated firmly. That knocked the wind out of Soval, silencing him for a considerable period of time.

"The tradition of establishing a mating bond is widely lost on Vulcan. Many marriages are a mere toleration of each other; mind melds are still considered deviant behavior by many. Do you really believe you have bonded with a human?"

"I have only limited knowledge about mating bonds," T'Pol explained. "It is my belief that our bond was established only recently, without our knowledge. I have shared the disturbing images, that came to Commander Tucker in his sleep and we both have experienced erratic manifestations of shared images in what the Commander refers to as 'day dreams' during my time of meditation."

"In this case your assessment is correct. You appear to have established a mating bond. That has serious consequences. Since your bond is still immature, it can be severed with limited danger for both of you."

"I do not believe that Commander Tucker wishes to severe the bond and I have no wish to do so, as well," T'Pol refused with a rigid stance.

"If you wish to remain bonded, you must keep a strict meditation routine and it is imperative to include Commander Tucker in it," Soval instructed. "This will reduce the spontaneous manifestations of your connection. You must not meditate while Commander Tucker is in a situation where a spontaneous… daydream might put him in danger. You shall also consider living off duty for a Vulcan year."

"Is that the reason behind the tradition of residing together for a year after marriage?" T'Pol inquired.

"Yes. Traditionally the mating bond is initiated by a mind meld during the wedding ceremony. The year of residence together is the time that is needed to let the bond mature. However, there are instances of bonding without the bonding meld, usually caused by mutual deep affection for each other and frequent direct contact, as it appears to have happened to you."

"It is true; we share a strong mutual affection. And we shared frequent direct contact in the past as well," she said with a slight blush, caused by sharing such intimate information.

"It is agreeable to see that you and the Commander live by the teachings of Surak. Most unfortunately many of our people have not yet returned to the Vulcan way. Many, like Minister V'Lon therefore experience fear."

"Why should we pose a danger?"

"It is not themselves, who they are eager to protect. It is the power they wield."

"I understand."

"Is there anything further that I can do to provide assistance?" Soval asked

"I meant to ask you to accompany us to Vulcan. It is my belief that your legal counsel may be of great help."

"I shall do so. How do you plan to defend yourself?"

"I do not have a planned course of action. I wish to speak to my mate about the matter. I have learned that he frequently finds solutions that others do not see. They often appear illogical or unconventional, but they can be most effective."

"I could see that myself during my stay aboard Enterprise, he is a most fascinating man. I share your belief, that he will provide a solution."

"I shall go now; there is a great deal of preparations to do."

"Agreed."

X X X

Trip entered the mess hall after waking up from his medically induced sleep. His pale face was a dead giveaway that he was definitely unwell. After collecting a sandwich and a hot strong coffee, he sat down at a table on the far side and started his meal absentmindedly.

"May I?" Hoshi asked.

"Sure. Know where T'Pol is?"

"She's down on Earth for some preparations for tomorrow, don't know exactly what."

"Ah," Trip remembered. "She's getting us something to wear tomorrow. We decided to go for civilian clothes."

"You might need them." Hoshi sighed. Noticing his puzzled look, she explained the latest news.

"You and T'Pol were summoned to the Vulcan High Council at the end of the week. They are not very happy. You almost attacked a Minister and when you collapsed, she told him to go to hell in Vulcan."

Trip's eyes launched into a formidable saucer imitation. "I'll be damned. They're gonna chew our butts. I need something from you. I need everything ya have about Vulcan culture and tradition, especially anything about the newfangled Surak stuff from the Kir'Shara and maybe some language program. Looks like I need to know at least some basic Vulcan phrases."

"Ashayam, eh?" Hoshi chuckled.

"What?"

"After you collapsed, she called you Ashayam and cradled you in front of the whole audience. After that Koss flipped off his dad and walked out."

"What does it mean?"

"It means... beloved, Commander." Hoshi whispered and turned to go.

"I'll have a crewman deliver the PADD's." she added with a smile, before she left.

X X X

Silently, Trip sat on his bed with a stack of PADD's sifting through the vast amount of information before him. He would only have a handful of days to brace himself for the shit storm that the Vulcan High Council would cast at them, but he had started to work on a plan to bail out T'Pol and he was determined to hold his own against V'Lon this time.

"Protective reflexes..." he muttered silently. "So when one mate is attacked or mates are forcefully separated... disturbance in the bond... malicious interference with a bond.. wonder what that V'Lon guy has to say about that..."

The door chime heralded the arrival of an eagerly awaited visitor.

"Come," he said, keeping his attention on the PADD's.

"You are busy?" she asked as she entered his room.

"There's always time for you, Ashayam," he answered softly.

T'Pol stopped dead in her tracks with a very elevated eyebrow.

"Would've liked to be conscious when you first said it, but you can't have everything." With that, he rose from his bunk and drew her into a passionate kiss. His very surprised mate dropped the bag she had been carrying, to eagerly return his embrace.

"Are you well?" she asked, panting slightly from the very passionate lip contact.

"I'm still pretty beat, but the head ache's gone."

"Does the Captain know about the nature of our relationship?" she asked carefully.

"Don't think so. Most people seem to know, but sometimes Jon is a tad too dense to see the forest behind all those trees," he chuckled. "Hoshi told me what happened and what you called me and that creep. Didn't know that Vulcans could cuss off each other." he chuckled and gave her a playful pat on her delicious derriere.

"The Minister succeeded in making us lose control. We will have to answer for that to the High Council."

"Sure thing, but I'm working on a plan, and you'll teach me some heavy duty meditating until then. This time I won't break down again. I just found some nice things in that Kir'Shara translation. I bet a certain Minister will get a bad headache soon."

"Your determination honors me; we will have to practice relentlessly. What are you researching?" she asked indicating the stack of PADD's.

"All sort of Vulcan stuff. Culture, traditions, rituals, some language," he explained with a chuckle at the elevated brow that pushed towards her hair line, "thought it might help to get at least the basic introductions and gestures right on Vulcan and as I said, there's some passages in the Kir'Shara that the creep had better read before messing around with me."

"It appears I underestimated your determination." she said in adoration and awarded his enthusiasm with a kiss.

"I would really like to keep smoochin' you, darlin' but for now we have a lot of stuff to do. Got our clothes?" he asked, gathering the PADD's into a neat stack.

"Yes. My mother had told me after you left Vulcan that you have almost exactly the same stature as my father, so selecting clothing for you was not difficult."

"Great, so how about we start the meditation stuff right away?"

"We will do better to use my quarters for that. All the needed utensils are there. Please meet me in 30 minutes," she said.

While she prepared to leave for her quarters, her mate made a point of stealing another kiss before releasing her.


	6. Musical Chairs, Starfleet Style

**6. Musical Chairs, Starfleet Style**

_Update (June 2010): re-upload with minor cosmetic changes and corrections_

"Archer to Commander T'Pol."

"T'Pol here," came the answer after a lengthy wait.

"Can you join me in my ready room? We have new information about yesterday."

"Shall I bring Commander Tucker as well?"

"Is he in your quarters?"

"Practicing meditation in the mess hall would be... most ineffective," T'Pol answered coolly, completely oblivious to the fact that she just made a wisecrack again.

"Okay, okay. I'll be waiting. Archer out," the captain answered with a smile and shook his head.

X X X

"Hi, Capt'n." Trip greeted 5 minutes later.

"Sit down you two. I've some things to tell you."

"T'Pol, the Vulcan High Council is less than thrilled about your show of friendly concern about Trip. Obviously cradling someone like that is not common workplace practice on Vulcan. V'Lon and some Admiral V'Kar press to have you two separated to different posts and they even threaten to leave the alliance to achieve that."

"A most foreseeable development." T'Pol asserted dryly.

"Well, Cap'n. I can't go into detail, but you have to expect to lose both your first officer and your chief engineer rather soon. I'm pretty sure we'll both return from Vulcan, but we may not be able to stay on the ship much longer. I think we'll have to leave duty for a while. I have started working on a plan for bailing out T'Pol with the High Council. I'm not yet done with it, but I found some neat details about Vulcan traditions that could give that V'Lon guy quite a bad head ache."

Both T'Pol and Archer looked at him in expectation.

"Care to be more specific Trip? You'll both leave?" Archer pressed.

"Can't be more specific, as I said I haven't got yet all the answers I need. And even if I have all I need, I won't fill anybody in, not even T'Pol. We only have one chance, and I'd rather be dead than wasting it. I'll file for leave of absence. If you want my recommendation, make Lt. Hess a Lt. Commander and hand over the keys to engineering to her, she's damn good."

"So I shall vacate my post too?" T'Pol asked. Trip nodded "But only if you have trust in my plan, wouldn't want to drag you into anything you don't like. I really can't tell you beforehand, so you have to trust me blindly."

"I do," she said firmly, "Captain, you should contact Starfleet about a new First Officer."

"Damn! Trip! You can't jump ship now!" Archer exhaled in frustration.

"Captain, the Vulcans want to get rid of us anyways. If they go as far as publicly abusing me to reach their goal, they won't stop. If I defeat V'Lon, he may be gone from the VHC, but we'll have to disappear from the radar for a while, until the Vulcans get their heads around that Kir'Shara thing. I've heard that this cute Minister T'Pau does a decent job and T'Pol's fate is dependent on me winning her over."

T'Pol went stiff as a board, her hands clenched in fists. "What does winning over mean?" she asked in a heightened voice and with flaring nostrils, surprising the Captain, but not Trip.

"Well, T'Pol, you just gave me a clue, that my plan might work just fine," he grinned. "Winning over means I'll have to convince her of my logic. May sound strange, but sometimes we can teach a Vulcan a thing or two about logic."

"I have no doubt in your logic Commander." she returned in visible relief. T'Pol realized that he had just tested a very specific property of their bond; an illogical move, especially in front of the Captain.

"Trip, sounds like a huge risk you're taking." the Captain objected.

"Cap'n, I sat as ranking officer bang smack in the middle between the Andorian and Vulcan fleets twice, want to give me any lectures about risks?" Trip retorted dryly.

"Damn! Well, what can I say. Best of luck to you two. Gotta go hunting for a new first officer." Archer sighed. "Everything set for tomorrow?"

"Pretty much, yes. T'Pol got the clothes in the morning, but we better get back to meditating, else I'm gonna be a basket case."

"OK, dismissed." Archer waved, clutching his head after the two were gone.

X X X

"Hoshi, call Admiral Gardner and transfer the transmission to my ready room."

"Aye, Captain." It took 10 minutes before a flashing light announced the incoming return call..

"Admiral."

"Jon, if you call again about yesterday, I can't tell you more than Samuels."

"No explanations needed, Admiral, I know all I need to. Suffice to say, you have a very disappointed flagship crew at hand, Sir. I call about something else. I need two new officers. T'Pol and Tucker are filing leave of absence. And trust me, I can understand them."

"Are they trying to avoid the rap from the Vulcan High Council?"

"No, they're preparing for it. They think they can get out of it with both sides satisfied. And I would guess they are not very happy with being members of Starfleet right now, anyways." Archer spat angrily.

"Relieving them from duty before their hearing would get us into even more trouble with the Vulcans. They're going to think we condone their actions and hide them from the VHC. But I can relieve them from their assignment. They'd have to report to Headquarters when ordered, but can go wherever they want, as long as they let us know where they are. They'll be reporting to me personally. That's the best I can offer."

"I think that will have to be good enough. Can I come down and go through some proposals with you?"

"Good idea, I have some of my own. 1900, my office."

"Ok, Admiral. Archer out."

X X X

"Trip," T'Pol began after they finished another lengthy meditation session. "I am most uncomfortable with your secrecy."

"I know darlin' and I hate to keep it from you, but I don't wanna risk anything. What if they do that mind melding business on you and spoil our chances. One of those fancy nerve pinches and you are unconscious; they would do a mind meld and know everything. If only I know about it there's no chance for them to get the clue, because most of them will be too damn afraid of my 'unsuppressed emotions' to attempt a meld.. Pretty sure they will expect you to have prepared the defense. They think I'm just a waste of skin and organs, so they won't think I would come up with a plan," Trip explained as he returned to his stack of PADD's.

"I am most impressed by the amount of planning you did. Obviously you are ... growing fond of logic, Ashayam. Using their prejudice against them is a most intelligent plan." she added with a hint of teasing.

"Just like you start making jokes; remember that meditating in the mess hall thing?" he teased back.

"Agreed. We seem to... complement each other. You have a message."

"Can ya look at it for me? I'm just checking on something important," he said, without looking up from his PADD.

"Are you comfortable with me accessing your personal messages?"

"No secrets from you, darlin', except that plan of mine." he said.

She called up the latest message. It was from Starfleet. She read out loud.

TO: T'Pol, Cmdr.

CC: Tucker, Charles III, Cmdr.

With immediate effect your assignment to the Earth star ship NX-01 "Enterprise" is recalled. You will continue service without a specific assignment. You are to remain aboard Enterprise until you reach Vulcan. After your questioning by the Vulcan High Council is concluded, you are expected to report to me personally within two weeks after the last day of questioning. Starfleet will arrange your transport back to Earth.

This document is to be archived, it constitutes an official order.

Gardner, Admiral.

"Well, its not leave of absence, but it gives us what we wanted. I think the Capt'n must have told him. Interesting that he hasn't got the balls to tell us himself." Trip assessed.

As T'Pol closed the message, several messages with the sender 'Cathryn' in the summary list caught her eye." She visibly stiffened.

"Looks like you passed the test again darlin'," he chuckled. Trip smiled to himself, all the research he'd been doing was paying off big time. By studying T'Pol's reactions to his secrecy, and her reaction to any woman she did not know in his life, he was getting more than enough information to win this battle with the V'Lon in the Vulcan High Council. Now it was just a matter of adding some alternative actions as well. V'Lon surely would not be easy prey, but his mental wounds were fresh and his fighting spirit rose by the minute.

"I believe you refer to the reflex of protecting ones mate from harm or overtures?" she asked warily.

"Exactly, don't worry, Cathryn's ma mom. Probably a good thing if you read them. You gonna learn a thing or two that I wanted to tell ya anyways. I need some more time here, I think I found something."

"As you wish," she said and started filtering his message list for "Cathryn".

X X X

"Can we do something to help them?" Shran asked as he walked alongside Archer. They were on their way to Admiral Gardner.

"Not at the moment, but Trip says he has a plan to get them out of it unscratched and after the beating he got from that guy, I'm sure he'll not be nice about it." Archer sighed

"How long do you think Starfleet will need to decide whether they need me or not?"

"We commissioned T'Pol in less than 24 hours. I can't see any reason why it should take longer for you. I haven't told the Admrial about you yet, but I bet they can use any good officer they get. Finding a good crew for _Columbia _was difficult enough and _Challenger _will be ready in 6 months, so the whole search will start again. I'd bet my ass that they'll be all too happy to give you the keys."

"Well, everything's fine, as long as I can get out there." Shran answered.

"Got any problems serving under my command?" Archer asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I lost my first officer and my chief engineer. I'd be more than happy with you as my first until _Challenger _is finished. I doubt they'll give you a command right away. We do things a bit different from the Imperial Guard and they surely want you to get used to that first."

"As long as you don't prohibit Andorian Ale, I can live with that." Shran deadpanned.

When they entered the Admirals office, Gardner did a double take. "Mr. Shran. What brings you here?"

"Good evening Admiral. Archer asked me to come along," Shran pointed to the Captain.

"Admiral, I would like to ask, if it is possible to commission my blue friend in Starfleet and especially, how quick that could be done."

"I'm surprised, why do you want to join Starfleet Mr. Shran?"

"I left the Imperial Guard, because they wanted to confine me to an office as a General. I belong in space, especially now that the Romulans are starting to get more aggressive. Those drone ships were only a first test. I cannot sit in a warm chair, while experienced men are needed out there."

"Hm, that's right. A man of your reputation should have no problem fitting the profile," Gardner assessed. "How quickly can we get your service record from the Imperial Guard?"

"The Andorian Embassy will deliver it within the hour." Shran stated.

"In that case I could swear you in as early as tomorrow morning. We did that with Commander T'Pol before. Unless you have any massacres in your files..."

"No, my record is clean. I'll see to it, Admiral." Shran moved to leave.

"Mr. Shran, I want to be honest about it. I know you're an experienced Captain. But commissions from allied forces are not permitted to jump into a captain's chair right away. You'd probably have to spend a few months with the rank of Commander as first officer. But sure as hell, you'll be top favorite for command of the _Challenger._"

"Don't worry Admiral. My favorite pink skin over there asked me whether I would be able to serve under his command and as I know he's fresh out of a First Officer and Chief Engineer. It would be an honor to serve as his first for a while."

"Bring me your file and I'll get you on _Enterprise_." Gardner nodded.

"Aye, Sir." Shran acknowledged and left.

"Damn, we should get you a post in recruiting... uh pink skin." Gardner joked.

"Well, obviously the discussion about my next First Officer has become obsolete." Archer said. "This is the profile of Lt. Hess, Tucker's executive officer, can we get her a field promotion to Lt. Cmdr. and hand her the job? That's actually Commander Tucker's recommendation."

"She's got a very favorable resume and I think we can exclude favoritism on personal grounds, unless the Commander would like to have a very angry Vulcan at hand." Gardner said with a sarcastic smile. "But Jon, we can't do that yet. She doesn't even have half the required years for chief engineer. We can't do that on our flag ship."

"Well, what do you have in store?" Archer asked.

"Actually a Vulcan," Gardner started, "His name is Kov." He handed Archer a PADD.

"How did he come here? We met him some years ago. He was part of a group of renegade Vulcans, who adopted emotions."

"Well, I remember those reports. He didn't really say too much about it, but several people from his ship left after meeting you, he said that some guy named Tolaris made the moves on your first officer and wasn't very gentlemanly about it."

"That's an understatement. He tried to mind rape her."

"He tried what?"

"He tried to mind meld without her consent. It's considered the same as rape."

"No wonder half the crew wanted to get away from this guy. Anyways shortly after you guys ran after the augments, he showed up here and asked to become a member of Starfleet; passed all exams with flying colors. Actually he could give Commander Tucker a run for his money. I made him Lt Commander right away. Not too difficult after he's been a ship's engineer for almost 30 years. Your crew seems to have made one great impression on him and he seems easier to get along with, than your average Vulcan."

"Well, he actually was on Enterprise for a while when we encountered them, so he'll be no complete stranger. I think that's sown up then. I found my new officers in no time Admiral."

"Could you do something for me Captain?"

"Yes, why not..."

„Could you please convey my sincerest apology to the Commanders for not interfering yesterday? I know they must think I'm a jerk, but the Vulcans had me over a barrel; we can't endanger the Coalition, not with the Romulans around."

"I can think about a few other words than jerk, Admiral. You've let us down pretty badly. It's the first time that I saw Lt. Reed openly shout at a superior officer and that man has been raised by a Navy officer. You've lost a lot of trust with my crew, to be honest. I'll tell them Admiral, but I ask you to talk to them when they come back from Vulcan. They're both royally pissed at Starfleet and they don't deserve that. Best not to mingle with our crew tomorrow as well, you're not exactly popular at the moment."

"I'll keep that in mind, Jon." the Admiral sighed.


	7. Fashion Statement

**7. Fashion Statement**

_Update (June 2010): re-upload with minor cosmetic changes and corrections_

X X X_  
_

"_But she was so cute. I'll never forget that cute lil' face of 'er," Trip said in b__etween sobs. He was crying hard._

"_Outward appearance should not influence the value of a living being," T'Pol lectured with tears of her own running down her cheeks._

"_You don' get it darlin'. Every parent thinks their child is cute. It's sort of a human reflex." Trip explained. _

_As soon as they had started their meditation, T'Pol had steered the conversation to a talk about Elizabeth. They had been discussing her and the upcoming funeral for over an hour now - both needed their emotions about the loss to be dealt with and doing it in their meditative mind was the most effective way. Less than 24 hours remained until the taxing task of burying their unlikely offspring._

"_I hope I can hold out long enough tomorrow. I've got now problem cryin' in here, but I'd like to keep it to myself tomorrow. Don' wanna embarrass you or myself," Trip sobbed. _

"_You cannot embarrass me Trip. It is an honor for me to be your mate." she said softly and emphasized her words with a kiss._

"_I love ya too darlin'" he returned, knowing that he'd probably never hear those exact words from her. He did know however, that this was, what her stilted vulcanese speak was trying to express. _

"_I was meaning to ask, Ashayam, why are you so willing to practice meditation? It must be most taxing to you."_

"_Well, sorta difficult to explain. In here you can cry and you can smile. Did you know that you look unbelievably gorgeous, when you smile? It's absolutely breathtaking."_

"_My expressing emotions is motivating you?"_

"_Yeah, I know you can't show it usually, but in here you do. This meditation thing is when I can look behind the stoic face o' yours."_

"_Would you prefer if I showed my emotions publicly?"_

"_No darlin'. Your species prohibits that. I don' wanna change your nature. Be the one you always were. In here I can see your emotions. I'm happy with that."_

"_Charles Tucker III," she announced. "You are more honorable than any person I know," she said with a breaking voice and kissed him with the white hot passion of a dozen suns._

X X X_  
_

"Wow, that's harder than I thought. How you do that for hours every day is beyond me," Trip winced after they broke their meditation. He sat on the meditation cushion, rubbing his sore legs.

"You are progressing well. The last session spanned 90 minutes already. A most commendable achievement for the first day," she praised. "Please disrobe and lie down on the bed. I will tend to your strained muscles."

"Disrobe, uh..." he chuckled and undressed before laying down on his front.

T'Pol had changed into her blue nighties,that he knew from their neuropressure sessions when she returned from the bathroom with a tube of gel. Squirting some of it on his legs, she started to rub it in while gently massaging his legs.

"Did the meditation have any impact on your mind?" she asked.

"Well, besides the fun of kissing you in that white room, I also feel quite relaxed, considering that some guy tried to fuck me up completely just a day ago."

"I would prefer, if you left out some of the more... colorful metaphors." she scolded lightly, "So I understand that you are more at ease?"

"I feel a whole lot better than a few hours ago, sorta more strong and collected. I cried like a child in there and it's not visible at all."

"Then the meditation was most successful. As the ceremony does not start until 1000, we should consider a meditation session in the morning for added strength." she proposed.

"I'm game. I can use any help I can get tomorrow." he said.

Slowly she continued the massage, including his behind in it, even though that wasn't exactly sore. Suddenly his whispered grunts of pleasure subsided and gave way to a calm steady breathing, as he had drifted to sleep. She removed her pajamas and crawled up to him equally naked and pulled the blanket over their entangled bodies.

Unlike the night before, Trip had slept like a log. Sensing the distinctive sensation of a naked Vulcan breast pressing into his back, he sighed slightly, taking in the sweet sensation of that very special touch. T'Pol awoke by a sudden wave of contentment and pleasure washing over her through the bond.

"It seems most pleasurable for you to sleep in that state of undress," she analyzed with a hint of teasing.

"Morning darlin'. Hell yeah, that's one way to wake up. You know, how important it is for me to feel your touch, and the touch of such delicious parts of you is, well it's the icing on the cake."

"I find it most difficult to understand that you refer to me or parts of me in food terms. I find the thought of being a food source very disagreeable."

Trip laughed. "Don' worry, darlin'. I'm not going to eat you, well not **that** way at least." he smirked. "When I talk about delicious, like here," he said, gently brushing her left breast, "then that means it's especially nice to look at or touch. And icing on the cake means, the best of the good. Its nice to feel ya hands on ma back, but feeling those on me, that is a whole lot nicer even. That understandable?"

"I believe I understand. So how many ...'delicious parts' do I possess?"

"I'll show you some day, just not today," he sniggered at her almost childlike cluelessness. "Best we get cracking at that meditation business."

"I am most impressed by your willingness to learn."

"Trust me darlin', I need all help I can get today."

X X X

"Archer to T'Pol."

"T'Pol here."

"Please come to the briefing room. It won't be long and please bring Trip with you." Archer added, exactly knowing where his chief engineer would be.

"On our way, Captain. T'Pol out."

X X X

"Morning," Trip drawled, as he and T'Pol, both in civilian clothing, entered the briefing room. As always, he helped her into her seat before taking his.

"T'Pol, did you do all this by meditation?" Archer asked in disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday his face was white as a wall and he looked like death warmed over, and now that?"

"The commander surprised me by a most unexpected patience in his practice, we progressed far more than planned."

Shaking his head Archer addressed the officers.

"I have a lot of news. First the bad news. The Commanders Tucker and T'Pol will leave Enterprise when we get to Vulcan. Both of them are currently relieved from assignment but retain their ranks and report to Admiral Gardner personally."

After the initial shock had subsided, Archer continued.

"This change is the result of a decision made by the Commanders and they both think that they would not be returning to Enterprise anyway, so they decided to get out on their own terms, rather than being booted off. I understand however that they may return at some point in the future, although we're probably talking a year or more."

"Bloody Hell!" came Malcolm's trademark return.

"Well, just so you guys get it right," Trip interjected. "We're not jumping ship just like that. The Vulcans will try to nail T'Pol's ass in that hearing. I've devised a way out, but even if it works, we'll have to get off the radar, so the Vulcans get back in line and stop threatening to leave the coalition. They only wanna make sure that T'Pol an' I aren't a pair. Elizabeth has been giving some of them a bad head ache. They have some damn xenophobes in that High Council, ya saw one of them yourselves."

"Do you think you can hold your own against that bloke this time?" Malcolm inquired with a bit of worry.

"Well if T'Pol's meditation mojo is going to help like it did yesterday, I'll probably be more calm than that guy." Trip chuckled.

"Well best of luck to you, we'll sure miss you," Travis sighed.

"Now for the other News." Archer took over. "I have your substitutions. Trip, I couldn't go with your proposal. Anna has not even half of the mandatory years of experience; Gardner turned me down flat. But you'll like his candidate. He's Vulcan. Actually he's Starfleet's second alien commission after T'Pol. His name is Kov."

"No idea how he ended up in Starfleet, but I'm sure as hell happy to hand him the keys. He's a great guy." Trip grinned.

"Isn't that one of those Vulcans we met in our first year?" Malcolm asked.

"Yeah, a Vulcan with a knack for emotions and one helluva engineer." Trip beamed.

"Well, then now for the big one." Archer smiled, "We also get the 3rd ever alien in Starfleet. He'll be our new first officer."

"Another from the Vulcans?" Hoshi asked.

"No. Andorian." Archer replied to much amazement, "It's one Commander... Shran."

"I'll be damned!" Trip chuckled, "How the hell did ya pull that one off?"

"Actually, the Andorians wanted to make him a General. Shran was having none of that. He resigned, rather than having a desk job. I helped him signing up with Starfleet. He'll have to put in some months as First Officer to get used to Starfleet's way of doing things, but as soon as _Challenger _is completed they'll plop him down in the captains chair, right away," Archer summarized.

"A very wise choice captain, I am honored to be replaced by a man of such profile." T'Pol approved sincerely.

"But still, I want you two back as soon as possible." Archer said, "Now, get out everybody and prepare for the ceremony."

"Actually, Cap'n can we have a word with you?" Trip turned to him after the others had left.

"Sure."

"We would like to ask to use Shuttlepod 2. We know you guys all get down there in Shuttlepod 1, but we would like to wait till the last possible minute, so we don't have to hang around and be cornered by all them media jerks or any Vulcans who might want to fuck up our minds."

"Trip, your language." T'Pol scolded, slipping up in front of the Captain again.

"Sorry. Anyways, we just don't wanna hang around for people to gawk at us."

"It's ok, Trip. I'll inform Admiral Gardner. He owes you one anyway. He'll stay away from the crew today, and he promised me to explain everything when you come back from Vulcan. He's truly sorry, but V'Lon had him tied up."

"It's ok, Cap'n, thanks." Trip said and he left with T'Pol, not realizing that they were holding hands like teenagers.

"Just friends my ass," Archer whispered with a smile when they were gone.

X X X

"Captain Archer, Commander Shran, reporting for duty."

"So Gardner swore you in?"

"Yes. My profile met his expectations, so we went through with the formalities. Good of them to give me a black uniform. Blue wouldn't have fit somehow."

"I see your point, Shran. We'll stand over there, let's go."

As Archer and Shran moved to their designated position, they were approached by Ambassador Soval.

"Captain Archer." Soval opened stoically.

"Ambassador."

"I can not see Elizabeth's parents."

"They'll arrive last minute. Both are trying to minimize the time they're down here because of all the media types and obviously they are not too eager to meet you folks as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Commander Tucker, especially, wants to stay away from Vulcans as far as possible, after one of them tried to mess him up two days ago. And as you may know, humans are vulnerable to emotions at a funeral, especially when they bury their own child. He doesn't want to be a convenient target again." Archer explained angrily.

"I can understand that. Minister V'Lon's behavior was most dishonorable. To my regret, I could not prevent it. I do wish however to accompany you to Vulcan if that is possible."

"Why do you want that?"

"The Commanders will need a supportive voice when they are questioned by the High Council. Unlike last time, Minister V'Lon will not have any authority over myself, when I appear as a legal council to the commanders."

"I'll forward your offer to them, I can't promise however, that they will take you up on it."

"They asked for it themselves, Captain." Soval nodded and turned to leave for his designated position, while a low humming noise indicated the arrival of Shuttlepod 2.

After the shuttle had landed and was shut down by its two occupants, the assembled audience of invited dignitaries, media representatives and the assembled crew of _Enterprise_ turned to witness the arrival of the ceremony's most important attendants. The ceremony was about to begin as soon as the parents of the deceased Elizabeth T'Les Tucker would take their positions on the side of their former Captain, Jonathan Archer.

Vulcans do not gasp, but every collective eyebrow went north, when the petite frame of Commander T'Pol of Vulcan came into view, dressed in a long black human dress. She was followed by Commander Charles Tucker III clad in a traditional Vulcan robe. Both had decided to demonstrate the possibility of a Vulcan/human union by wearing the traditional attire of their respective counterpart, a point that was not lost on anyone.

"They don't do things the normal way, do they," Shran whispered in admiration.

"Not those two, no," Archer whispered back.

Hand in hand the parents of Elizabeth walked from their shuttle towards their places with the Enterprise crew.

"Never a dull moment with you two…" Archer whispered after they arrived.

"Agreed." T'Pol answered as the ceremony began.

_Dor-tor etek nash-gad vokaya Elizabeth T'Les - ko-kan t'Charles heh t'T'Pol. Nam-tor ek'etek nelauk k'tevakh hi vesht tvidonik k'pen-ha'kiv t'oko-veh… __Dor-tor etek nash-gad oko-veh - doran ko-kan - doran ko-kai - doran ko-bath - doran ko-kan-kan - doran ko-thrah. Noshau pen-ha'kiv t'oko-veh wuhkuh t'dan-fudaya eh t'dan-vam. dungi i'stariben mekhu - zahalan k'fan-vath-kanlar t'au s'keshtan-zek - kuv aitlu au fan-vel hau_

Tiral, the resident priest of the Vulcan Embassy, a pupil of Vulcan's High Priest Torok, spoke the Vulcan rites. The parents of Elizabeth T'Les Tucker had requested a joint Vulcan and human ceremony. Since the child symbolized the union of a Vulcan with a human, they had asked to merge Vulcan with human customs during the ceremony.

"Today we honor the memory of Elizabeth T'Les, child of Charles and T'Pol. We are all diminished by her death but we were enriched by her short life...," Hoshi translated with tears in her eyes. Malcolm had taken her hand, when emotions started to overcome the petite communications officer. "Today we honor her: We honor the daughter, the friend. Her brief life is one to be held in the highest regard and esteem. The parents will now speak, followed by any other children, in birth order, if they want to add anything."

T'Pol could not speak. Her nostrils were flaring, a telltale sign of being near loss of emotional control. Unexpectedly, the emotional father of the child was the one to address the assembled crowd, a fact that most profoundly confused the Vulcan contingent. Trip had not prepared a speech, but in the last moment he decided to give the xenophobes on both worlds something to think about.

"My friends, we bury today the first child of a Human and a Vulcan," Trip started with a stunning absence of any drawl. "Elizabeth T'Les was created in an ill-mannered attempt to prove that Vulcans and humans do not fit together. The people, who committed this heinous crime, were too blinded by their own hatred to see the truth. When our mission started, four years ago, I was as skeptical of Vulcans as any other person on the ship. Now, one of them is standing beside me. And she's not **any** Vulcan. She's my mate. I do not care, who understands it and who doesn't. T'Pol and I are one and no one in this universe has the power to separate us." he finished with a breaking voice.

T'Pol was trembling from the overpowering onslaught of emotions that the ceremony and her mate's public declaration of love cast upon her. According to human traditions she bowed down, took a handful of sand and threw it on the little white coffin that had been lowered into the ground in front of them.

Hoshi threw her arms around Malcolm and started to cry in earnest. Malcolm, who had been moved to tears himself, gently embraced the trembling Ensign and tried to console her.

"We love ya, Elizabeth," Trip whispered as a single red rose released from his hand fell into her grave. "We'll never forget you, sweetheart."

X X X

"That wasn't merely a fashion statement." Gardner half asked, half stated after the ceremony had ended.

"Sure not." Archer answered. "By now even the Vulcan contingent should know that you don't tangle with these two. They are going to put up fight."

"The Vulcan contingent does know, Captain," Soval interjected from behind. "Unfortunately Minister V'Lon will take that as just another reason to target them," the Ambassador continued. "I had the chance to speak shortly to the Commanders before their rapid departure."

"They probably can use any help, they can get," Gardner answered, "Enterprise will take you to Vulcan if you wish, Ambassador."

"I do. Captain, if it is acceptable for you I wish to board your ship tomorrow 1000 in the morning. I need time to confer with the Commanders."

"Fine with me Ambassador, we'll see you there." Archer nodded as the three went their ways.


	8. Popping The Question

**8. Popping The Question**

_Update (June 2010): re-upload with minor cosmetic changes and corrections_

"Ugh," Trip groaned after another long meditation session. "Two and a half hours, I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"You did well, as you did during the ceremony." T'Pol reassured.

"Ya, but without getting back to the ship quickly, I would have lost it pretty soon down 'ere. Thanks god we were alone, when I couldn't hold out any longer."

"Crying is a natural human reaction to high distress, but I agree that it was to our advantage that you could suppress it until we were alone."

"We should add some furniture to that white space of yours."

"Meaning?"

"I mean its nice to be with ya in my mind, but all we can do is stand, sit or walk around in that white space, can't we add some scenery?"

"That would be possible, but it would also distract from the main purpose of meditation."

"I guess, I'll hit the shower then, t'was a long day," he groaned while getting up from the meditation cushion.

X X X

T'Pol's head rested on Trip's shoulders. After an exhausting day, he had quickly succumbed to sleep, entangled in his mates naked body. T'Pol had decided, that, since the... 'icing on the cake' was obviously beneficial to his well being, it would be logical to rest in an unclothed condition. The wave of positive emotions that washed over through the bond when she snuggled up to him, wearing nothing but an elevated eyebrow, proved the validity of her assessment.

She had noticed that although it was only a few days, since they started to spend the nights together, the frequent close contact between them had an impact on their bond. The transmission of emotions was still random and she could only pick them up, if his emotions were very strong. Those spontaneous transmissions became more frequent every day, although there were no signs of him picking up any signals from her. Their meetings in the white room became easier as well. Trip was an eager learner and became more adept at meditating with her. T'Pol made sure to award his effort every time, with the smile that he cherished so much.

The young Vulcan was still trying to understand how such small things could make such a big difference. Smiling was just a small change in her faces appearance, yet it was obviously enough of motivation for him to endure hours of immobility and meditation, something that was definitely not a natural talent of his. Also the seemingly irrelevant fact of sleeping without clothing, making the difference between waking up in contentment or waking up with so much pleasure, that it was strong enough to wash over through the bond, was something her logic couldn't explain. It was obvious that she had to investigate human behavior more thoroughly. He had spent hours every day learning about Vulcan culture and traditions, it would only be fair to do so herself. She made a mental note to get hold of appropriate material from the Vulcan Science Academy the next day. With that thought in mind, she drifted into a good night's sleep herself.

_(three days later)  
_

_Enterprise_ was on its way to Vulcan. They were expected to reach Vulcan orbit at 0900, giving them enough time to prepare for the departure of two of their officers. Trip and T'Pol had seldomly left their quarters during their travel to Vulcan. Both were buried in PADD's studying each others cultures and continued their intense meditation training. Although Trip was still as emotional as ever, he had learned to hide his emotions for longer periods and let them out with nobody around, preferably in their meditative white space. T'Pol had made a point of engaging him in long talks about his sister Lizzy and their baby Elizabeth, to stir emotions in him and took pride in the fact that it took sometimes more than an hour for him to succumb to tears. At times he even managed to return to calm without the need of her cradling him. She did embrace him though, even if he managed to calm himself without that. Depriving her mate of the cherished contact with her was not an option she was willing to take. Her logic failed at explaining it, but at several times it was actually she, who yearned for the contact.

Trip had spent half a day with Kov, making sure that the transition was smooth. His engineering crew had taken Kov to their hearts immediately. The Vulcan, who was not the typical pointy eared variety was very adept at interacting with the emotional humans around him.

Shran meanwhile had come to grips with his new position as second in command pretty well, too. Being surrounded by pink skins was still new to him, but he had enough experience from his long stay aboard during the fight against the Romulan drone ship. At least he had both his antennae this time. Since most of the crew knew and respected him, interaction was surprisingly flawless. Off duty he spent much time with Malcolm trading weapon and fight stories or in the captain's mess, instructing Archer on the finer points of Andorian ale.

Soval had instructed the ship's First Couple on how to care for their budding bond. His typical, clinically blunt approach had Trip jettison his drink through his nose at more than one point, for instance when Soval completely stoically explained not to forget to 'consummate the bond' regularly. _Damn! I like the sound of 'at, but there must be a more tactful way to say 'don't forget to do each other often.' _he had thought. But he had gotten a good laugh out of it as well, when T'Pol's eye brows went into arctic explorer mode at the blunt instruction to jump each others bones, even without a pon-farr around the next corner.

Through Soval's lectures Trip had learned the inner workings of Vulcan couples and he found that T'Pol's behavior towards him was not as different as he thought from any other Vulcan's behavior. Human contact needs were far less subtle than Vulcans, so instead of ozh'esta's they exchanged human kisses. They did however resolve to practice the more subtle Vulcan variety, when in public view.

Vulcan's had obviously no clue about caressing each other, either. While T'Pol obviously liked it when he brushed, groped or otherwise caressed several body parts, it was nothing to be found in any Vulcan textbook. Their idea of anything erotic was obviously to just switch the light off, go straight for the main dish and roll off each other again. _It's a damn sin, to just wolf down the steak and leave the dessert to rot. _he had thought with a chuckle.

X X X

A happy sigh signaled Trip's return to consciousness, followed by the wave of pleasure transmitting through the bond that she had waited for in happy anticipation. He planted a kiss on her lips, as he idly brushed and groped a cheek of her petite behind.

"Do I correctly believe that you have found another... 'delicious part'?"

"Damn right, darling," he said.

"I do not understand your fascination with specific body parts, but it would be dishonest to deny, that it is a most agreeable experience."

Trip burst into laughter.

"You find this amusing?"

"Yeah, nobody can say 'I like it when you grab my bum' and make it sound like a diplomatic introduction." he chuckled.

Suddenly, he turned serious again.

"Listen darlin', I think I've got all the pieces together for that hearing of ours, but we must make sure that no one gets near us. Don't want any nerve pinches or anything."

"I doubt that anyone will try to assault me or you, but I concur that it would be advisable to be 'rather safe than sorry', as the human expression says. I spoke with the Captain yesterday. Minister T'Pau has agreed that we will be escorted by _Enterprise_'s security personal. He will also send down Ensign Sato with us, so she can act as your translator in case of need."

"Well, I have you. Surely you can translate for me," he said with a hint of surprise.

"We will most likely be separated too distantly. There is reason to believe that the High Council will try to avoid interaction between us. We must also refrain from touching each other in such a public place. It would be considered most inappropriate, even between bond mates."

"Ya, figured that," he sighed as he rose from the bunk, unwillingly letting go of her soft derriere.

X X X

"Ready to kick some butt?" Trip asked as the big doors to the main chamber of the Vulcan High Council opened.

"It would be inappropriate to revert to violence, I must warn you..."

"Just, drop it darlin'. Guess I'll have to teach you more about human phrases," he sighed.

"Agreed."

True to her promise, Minister T'Pau allowed Malcolm and his group of MACO's, who had formed a protective circle around Trip, Hoshi, T'Pol and Soval, to escort them right into the chamber. She waved them to leave, once the four were safely standing in the center of the hall.

"This show of force was unnecessary, you will not be harmed." T'Pau opened.

"_Peace and long life_," Trip opened in Vulcan, with a slight drawl and a flawlessly executed Vulcan salute.

"_Live long and prosper_," T'Pau answered and returned the gesture.

"With all due respect Minister, that advice should have been given to that colleague o' yours some days ago, when he tried to rip my brains out." Trip declared.

"Minister V'Lon's behavior was regrettable and he has been made aware of his mistakes. We do not condone his misconduct. We regret the discomfort it has caused you. That does not however warrant your own misconduct. Ambassador Soval, what is your purpose to attend this meeting?" T'Pau asked.

"Minister, I am here as a legal council to both Commander T'Pol and Commander Tucker." Soval droned and nodded in her direction.

With the niceties out of the way, the commanders where seated on the left and right side of the hall, far from each other, as T'Pol had predicted. While Hoshi took a seat beside Trip, Soval seated himself with T'Pol.

V'Lon started the proceedings. "T'Pol of Vulcan, rise! You have been brought before the High Council to answer for several cases of grossly inappropriate behavior. You have publicly displayed emotional indulgence, intimate contact with a human and grossly disrespectful behavior toward a member of the High Council. Do you deny these charges?"

"Partially, I did act disrespectfully towards you, Minister when I momentarily lost the ability to suppress my emotions. I do disregard all other charges as irrelevant."

"You have been seen at the burial ceremony for that 'thing'," Trip winced at V'Lon's attempt to hurt them again. "holding that humans hand in yours. Do you deny that?"

"You might wish to remember, Minister, that Elizabeth T'Les was not a 'thing'. She was a child with both human and Vulcan genes. You have been made aware of that. As the child's mother I must insist that you pay her the respect she deserves. I do not deny the contact with Commander Tucker's hand. It was a human gesture of support, I felt responsible, to help the Commander, as he was equally distraught as I was, if not more."

"Commander T'Pol is correct." T'Pau interjected. "If you try again to provoke either Commander T'Pol or Commander Tucker by showing disrespect toward their child, you will be excluded from this session. Is that understood Minister V'Lon?"

"As you wish." V'Lon nodded grudgingly, "It is illogical to defend your wrongdoing as a human gesture. It was still a grossly inappropriate behavior."

"You might wish to notice, Minister that we were on Earth at the time, attending an Earth ceremony. This gesture was complying with both earth customs and laws. I did no wrong." T'Pol insisted, determined not to give in.

"Human customs are irrelevant. They are an unworthy species. It is illogical to indulge in their barbaric rituals." V'Lon added in a heightened voice, causing T'Pol's nostrils to flare in an attempt to contend her anger.

"Enough!" T'Pau interjected again. "Minister V'Lon, one more instance of misbehavior and you will be excluded. There will be no more warnings. Humans are our allies and they saved us from grave consequences on more than one occasion. I will not tolerate your dishonorable conduct any longer."

"I concur with the Ministers assessment. You are shaming this Council by your misconduct." Minister Kuvak added.

"May I speak, Minister?" Trip asked, slowly rising from his seat, sorting out his Vulcan robe.

"You may speak." T'Pau indicated to the center of the hall.

"As he has just openly proved," Trip started in an almost Vulcan calm. "Minister V'Lon is not exactly a friend of humans. That might be understandable; many humans do not start to cheer when a Vulcan's around either. Several days ago, the Minister has publicly expressed his intention to destroy me and if it wasn't for me collapsing, he might have succeeded at just that. I've spent the last few days studying Vulcan culture and language. I might not be any good at speaking Vulcan, heck I'm not even any good at speaking English. But I got a clue or two about you guys." he said fixing V'Lon.

"Proceed." T'Pau nodded.

"I can't read your mind Minister T'Pau, but I would hazard a guess, that you got the same clue as me. But just to make sure, I'll try to bring a few points home, so that Minister V'Lon might pick up some things about his own culture as well. It didn't take a full fledged investigation to find out that Minister V'Lon got his knickers in a twist about me and T'Pol being a couple."

"It would be conductive to your purpose, if you would refrain from using your customary colorful phrases Commander." Soval interjected as he approached Trip. "Not everyone in this room is accustomed to your version of English."

"Oh, sure, I apologize. Let me rephrase then. Obviously Minister V'Lon is worried, that T'Pol and I are more than just friends. He's afraid that we might be a couple. And I'm proud to break the news to you, you're damn right." he stated. That raised every non-human eyebrow in the hall. Although worried, T'Pol could not prevent herself from shooting a deep look of admiration to him, amazed at his boldness.

"After Captain Archer brought the Kir'Shara in here, obviously some people have missed to read a few pages, especially pages about Vulcan mating bonds. We cannot pinpoint it to a specific date, but T'Pol of Vulcan and I have been bonded for about 2 or 3 months now. Sometimes after she was released from that forced marriage to Minister V'Lon's son, we established a bond without really knowing. Obviously Minister V'Lon failed to read up on what happens when one attacks a person with his or her bond mate in the vicinity. From what I read, trying to forcefully separate bond mates doesn't go down very well with both the mates involved and Vulcan law as well. If he'd been studying that Kir'Shara of yours, he would know that he's damn lucky that she only cussed at him, she could as well have killed him on the spot."

"That is untrue. You are feigning knowledge about our culture to defend T'Pol's misbehavior. I will not tolerate such a deception." V'Lon answered, without his usual arrogance, though.

"Commander Tucker's explanation is entirely logical. If they truly have established a mating bond, both Commander Tucker's attempted attack on you and Commander T'Pol's overt expression of aggressive behavior was an instinctive reaction to protect each other from being harmed or separated. Mainly from being harmed by your misbehavior, Minister V'Lon. And I believe I do not have to explain to you that malicious interference with a bond is a capital crime. The only reason saving you from execution might be the fact that there was no reason to know that a mating bond might form between a Vulcan and a human." T'Pau retorted.

"We have no proof of a bond." V'Lon returned defensively.

"Proof is obtainable," T'Pau announced. "Are you willing to allow a mind meld to prove the existence of a bond Commander Tucker?"

"I've gone through some disturbing stuff lately, so my emotions are pretty much on a stampede, Minister, but if it is necessary you'll have my cooperation. Maybe T'Pol is a less stressful partner to check on our bond."

"Your consideration of my well being honors you. I will need a period of meditation before melding with you, but I have experience with human emotions. I melded with Captain Archer before and I know how to protect myself. I will have to meld with both of you in any case."

"Even if there is a bond, our traditions are for Vulcans. Humans have no right to interfere. I demand that this bond, if it exists, be severed." V'Lon clung to his last straw.

"Tough luck man, ya ain't gonna do anything about it." Trip muttered to himself, before addressing the High Council in his slightly drawly Vulcan.

"_I, Charles Tucker the Third,son of Charles Tucker Jr., son of Cathryn Tucker claim T'Pol of Vulcan, daughter of V'Nur, daughter of T'Les as my mate by the rite of Koon-ut-kal-if-fee_," Trip announced in formal style.

Hoshi's face went pale, her eyes wide open and T'Pol struggled to find a proper eye brow configuration for the onslaught of pride and surprise at hearing these words.

"The hearing is adjourned," T'Pau announced as she rose from her seat. "You will be brought to your quarters. The Ministry Of Security will be made responsible for your safety. Minister V'Lon; you will abstain from any contact with both Commander Tucker and Commander T'Pol until the investigation of the bond is completed. Lt Sato you are free to return to your ship. I will inform your captain about the time of Ambassador Soval's return."

"I am honored to be your mate." T'Pol struggled with a breaking voice, as the two exchanged an ozh'esta, shielded from view by Soval's sturdy frame.

X X X

"Hoshi, you've been grinning like the cat that ate the canary since you returned from Vulcan." Archer opened the briefing. "Do I take that as a hint, things went better than planned?"

"You could say that, Captain."

"What happened?"

"Trip knocked the Vulcans clean off their feet. V'Lon probably expected him to be a nervous pile of emotions, but he was having none of that. Took control right from the start, by doing the greetings in perfect Vulcan, well, as perfect as he can with that southern accent."

Archer laughed at the thought of his friend drawling away in Vulcan. Hoshi continued.

"Minister V'Lon homed in on T'Pol and she made a pretty good job of getting a rise out of him, right to the point that Minister T'Pau threatened to throw him out. She provoked him the same way as Trip did on Earth until the Minister blurted out his real motives." Hoshi chuckled, "From then on Trip took the matter in his own hand and knocked them down flat."

"He started a brawl?" Archer joked.

"No, he revealed that they are connected by something called a mating bond. Although I don't know what that is, exactly."

"I knew, there was something up with these two." Archer said, slapping his forehead as he put the missing piece into the puzzle and explained.

"A mating bond is a form of telepathic connection. They can sense each others presence and each others emotions, once the link is complete. It also triggers a strong instinct to protect each other, that's why T'Pol went off on V'Lon when he attacked Trip. And I bet Trip was riding that horse to get her out of it."

"I didn't know you were an expert on Vulcan mojo, Captain." Malcolm added in surprise.

"Well I had Surak's katra feeling itself at home in my skull for days. I didn't pick up a damn thing on the language, but a bit about their customs. Go on Hoshi," Archer sighed.

"Actually Trip did as you suspected. He linked their reactions to that protective instinct. Obviously triggering that instinct is not a nice thing to do. Harming someone who's bonded or trying to separate the mates is a capital crime. Minister T'Pau let V'Lon know, that the only thing saving him from execution is, that nobody knew a bond would work with humans."

"So she had him arrested?" Shran asked.

"No, but she ordered him to stay the hell away from them." Hoshi answered. "They'll now be checked whether that bond exists or not. As a last attempt, V'Lon demanded that, if there is a bond, it should be severed."

That made the Captain wince, knowing that severing a bond could be fatal for both of them. "They don't go through with that lunacy, do they?" he inquired.

"They can't. Trip had obviously practiced more Vulcan than just 'greetings y'all'," she said with a wide grin. "He claimed the Koon-ut-kal-if-fee."

"The what?" Shran asked with narrowed eyes.

"He proposed marriage and she didn't look like she's refusing." Hoshi said with a dreamy look.

"What makes you think that?" the captain asked, knowing that this was a rhetoric question.

"Well, does a Vulcan finger kiss right in the middle of the High Council count?" Hoshi volleyed with a giggle.

"How did they get away with THAT?" the captain asked in amazement.

"Well, suddenly Ambassador Soval felt a need to look at Minister T'Pau and shielded them from view. He's not exactly scrawny." Hoshi explained, still giggling like a schoolgirl.

"I'll buy that man an Ale." Shran muttered in quite admiration.


End file.
